Page 275 - Musings 2020

Mohan: Yeah, actually it was in my coat's pocket.

Vijay: I don't know why I find that quite suspicious.

Mohan: Sir, I had nothing to do with the robbery.

Enter Constable Manohar wearing Khaki clothes

He hands over a file to the Inspector

Manohar: (Whispering in Inspector’s ear) Sir, the fingerprints we found in the art section
have matched completely with Mohan and Karthik. The manager also saw these two carrying
a backpack in the gallery. While going through their financial records, we also found a huge
deposit of money in both their bank accounts of 1 lakh each.

Vijay: (Whispering) Thank you, Manohar.

The constable leaves

Vijay: So, Mohan, the manager says you had a backpack with you when you arrived at the
gallery. May I know what was in it?

Mohan: Sir, I had my camera and had sneaked in some food.

(Softly and leaning in) You know they don’t allow any outside food in the gallery.
Vijay: Ah, I see. Who did you interact with during your time at the Gala?

Mohan: Well let’s see, I remember talking to the artists and a few photographers. One of the
artists was a school friend of mine, so I spent most of the time catching up with him.

Vijay: May I know the name of this artist.

Mohan: Yes, it was Shubankar Chatterjee.

Vijay: As I recall the gallery also had an auction, so did you place any bids on any painting?

Mohan: Yes, Sir I placed the highest bid for a sculpture by artist Jason Manroe.

Vijay: Coming back to the point when you reached the history section was “The Man in Red”
painting there?

Mohan: No sir, it was gone, we thought somebody bought it at the auction.

Vijay: You see “The Man in Red” was never going to be auctioned. We also pulled the
fingerprints from the room and found Karthik’s and your prints on the wall where the
painting was originally hung. What do you have to say about this?

Mohan: (Fearfully) Sir, we must have placed our hand on the wall by mistake.

Vijay: What I think happened was that you entered the room, saw the painting, and noticed
that no one was around. Then you both thought of sneaking it in your backpack and making a
quick buck out of it.

Mohan: (Shivering) No sir! we did not steal the painting.

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